The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused former Bank of America senior investment banker Jason Satsky of passing confidential information about a potential corporate acquisition to his longtime friend and former colleague, allegedly helping generate an $18.5 million trading profit.
The SEC filed its civil enforcement case on August 21, 2026, against Satsky and Gavin Wolfe, alleging that the two men engaged in insider trading involving South Jersey Industries ahead of the company’s $8.1 billion acquisition announcement in February 2022.
The alleged tip that triggered an $18.5 million windfall
According to the SEC, Satsky was co-head of Bank of America’s Americas power and renewable energy banking group and served as the lead banker advising South Jersey Industries on a potential transaction.
The regulator alleges that, in late 2021, Satsky provided Wolfe with material nonpublic information about the possible acquisition.
Wolfe, who ran Evergreen Capital and had known Satsky for more than 20 years, allegedly responded by purchasing more than 2.2 million shares of South Jersey Industries for approximately $53 million.
When South Jersey Industries announced on February 24, 2022, that it had agreed to be acquired by a private investment fund in an approximately $8.1 billion transaction, the stock jumped roughly 40%.
The SEC says Wolfe consequently made approximately $18.5 million from the trades.
The regulator also alleges that Wolfe tipped other people, whose trading generated an additional approximately $515,000 in profits.
The unusual detail at the center of the allegations
One of the more striking details in the SEC’s case involves a college basketball game.
The SEC alleges that Satsky and Wolfe discussed the potential transaction on multiple occasions, including while attending a nationally televised Duke-Kentucky basketball game at Madison Square Garden with their wives.
Satsky had access to a luxury suite obtained through Bank of America, according to the allegations reported by Reuters and the SEC’s case materials.
The SEC’s allegations therefore center not simply on the size of the trade, but on the relationship between the two men and the timing of their communications and Wolfe’s purchases.
Both men deny the allegations
Satsky’s attorney, Robert Anello, said his client strongly denies the SEC’s allegations and maintains that he never provided Wolfe or anyone else with material nonpublic information concerning South Jersey Industries.
Wolfe’s attorney, Reed Brodsky, also said his client categorically denies the allegations. Brodsky argued that Wolfe’s purchases were based on an independent investment thesis and accused the SEC of overlooking testimony and documents supporting that position.
Those defenses are significant because the SEC’s filing represents allegations that will have to be tested through the legal process; neither man has been found liable based solely on the filing.
What the SEC is seeking
The SEC’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses Satsky and Wolfe of violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5.
The regulator is seeking permanent injunctions, civil monetary penalties and officer-and-director bars against the defendants. It is also seeking disgorgement and prejudgment interest from Wolfe and certain entities through which the SEC alleges the trades were conducted.
The case involves several entities associated with Wolfe, including Evergreen Capital and other companies identified in the SEC’s complaint as relief defendants.
Bank of America is not accused of wrongdoing
The SEC’s action is against the individuals, not Bank of America.
Reuters reported that Bank of America confirmed Satsky no longer works at the bank and was not accused of wrongdoing in the case. The SEC says Satsky was terminated by the bank in March 2025.
Wolfe previously worked as a senior power and renewable energy banker at Credit Suisse before he and Satsky joined Bank of America in 2012, according to Reuters.
Why the case is attracting attention
The allegations highlight one of the most closely watched risks in investment banking: the potential misuse of confidential information surrounding mergers and acquisitions.
Investment bankers routinely gain access to sensitive information before transactions become public. A pending acquisition can dramatically affect a company’s share price, creating an obvious incentive for investors to obtain information before the market does.
What makes this case particularly notable is the SEC’s allegation that the information allegedly moved through a decades-long personal relationship and was followed by a concentrated investment of roughly $53 million.
But the final legal outcome remains unresolved.
For now, the SEC has alleged that confidential information about an $8.1 billion transaction was improperly passed to a friend, that the friend traded heavily before the announcement, and that the resulting gains reached approximately $18.5 million.
Satsky and Wolfe deny those allegations and are entitled to defend themselves in court.
And with the SEC now seeking disgorgement, financial penalties and potential bans from serving as corporate officers or directors, the next phase of the case could reveal just how much evidence regulators have behind one of Wall Street’s most closely watched insider-trading allegations of 2026.
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